Postal association to take legal action against US Postal Service in pay dispute

The National Association of Postal Supervisors (NAPS) has filed a lawsuit against the US Postal Service for failing to align the pay of supervisors, managers and professional employees with federal law.

The postal association filed legal action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday 26 July 2019 on behalf of approximately 49,000 managers, supervisors, postmasters and professional and administrative staff employed by the US Postal Service, who are paid under the organisation’s Executive and Administrative Schedule (EAS). The lawsuit was approved by the NAPS executive board.

The dispute regards the US Postal Service rejecting the majority of the recommendations made by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which reviewed the organisation’s 2016 to 2019 pay package in 2018, at the request of NAPS.

Under federal law, EAS remuneration has to be comparable to the private sector and must show an adequate differential in pay between supervisors and the clerks and carriers they manage.

The review, according to NAPS, reported that EAS compensation was not comparable to private sector compensation, and that the pay-for-performance system was flawed. It also stated that the Supervisory Differential Adjustment is unreasonably calculated and inadequate.

NAPS is seeking retroactive pay to compensate employees covered by the EAS, backdated to 1 October 2015 in alignment with the start date of the 2016 to 2019 pay package. It also aims to amend EAS pay policies to ensure that these correspond with federal law.

The lawsuit further strives to overturn the US Postal Service’s refusal to acknowledge employees’ rights to be represented by NAPS.

Brian Wagner, president at NAPS, said: “The [US Postal Service’s] pay system for its managers and supervisors is broken and inconsistent with the expectations of the law. Given continued resistance to the fair administration of the law, we have no choice but to seek the relief to which all supervisors, managers and postmasters are entitled.”

A spokesperson at the US Postal Service said: “[The] Postal Service engaged in extensive consultations with NAPS and adopted a number of their recommendations. Moreover, we remain committed to our employees and supervisors, but within the context of our current business reality and financial condition.

“We will respond to the allegation of the complaint in the appropriate forum, but separately remain committed to our philosophy of working collaboratively with our management associations on a number of important issues that affect their constituents.”